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EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
CARVER ROAD
MIDDLE
Linda Holder is the Carver Road Middle School Employee of the Month for August. Because of her hard work she was named the 2015 GSCS Nutrition Employee of the Year. We are proud of Ms. Linda! #2185Pride CAMSPrideSoars
COWAN ROAD
MIDDLE
Cowan Road Middle's Employee of the Month is our new Academic Coach Jen Harper. Ms. Harper has jumped right in with a positive attitude! She has greatly supported our teachers in their efforts to improve student learning by observing their instructional needs and modeling lessons to demonstrate instructional strategies. She has provided professional learning to teachers on close reading, assisted in SRI administration and analyzed the results to determine which students need additional reading support. Ms. Harper is committed to making a difference for our scholars and is a great addition to Panther Nation!
KENNEDY ROAD
MIDDLE
Kennedy Road Middle School is proud to recognize our custodial staff as our August Employees of the Month. Jerome Barkley, Linda Colquitt, Ralph Berry and Linwood Goodrum do an incredible job of keeping our school beautiful. The maintenance department administrators just recognized KRMS as the cleanest school in the district by. We cannot overstate our appreciation for our custodians and their dedication to our Cougar family!
REHOBOTH ROAD
MIDDLE
Rusty Hudson and Carla Walsh are the Employees of the Month for RRMS. These two have spent countless hours and energy making sure our student schedules and school operations flowed smoothly this year. They are both dedicated to ensuring our students receive the best education possible. Mr. Hudson and Ms. Walsh continually assist and lead teachers and staff to the benefit of our students and families. They are invaluable resources to our school and community.
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GHS CONSTRUCTION TECH PROGRAM NOW ACCREDITED!
Over the summer, the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA) Board of Directors presented
GHS teacher Walter Preston with the
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GSCS
SUPERINTENDENT
Stop by, enjoy a cookie & some lemonade and introduce yourself to GSCS Superintendent Jim Smith!
Sept. 16, 2015 4 PM - 5:30 PM BOE Meeting Room (216 S. Sixth Street) |
Click on the links for more information...
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Training and planning. School districts seem to have elevated these activities to an art form. The first few days of the school year have been busy with training opportunities. Since the beginning of the month, central office meeting rooms have hosted training for iRead, Read 180, FTE counts, interrater reliability for administrators/evaluators, strategic planning, Project Aware, mentor planning, substitute teachers, and records management. Other professional development activities have been held at the school level. The challenge is to balance the number of class days that are interrupted by training activities, no matter how valuable the topics may be. Learning is a part of life - and, not just for students. We all can learn from new (or repackaged) ideas. Continuous improvement should be a goal we set for ourselves. Identify a topic of relevance to your position, or something that interests you, and dive into it. A commitment to improving skills will only serve to benefit the students who come to our classrooms each day. Thank you for all you have done to make the first three weeks good ones for our students.
Jim Smith
Superintendent
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GSCS TEACHERS AND STUDENTS GAINED REAL WORLD STEM EXPERIENCE
As part of the AMP-IT-UP initiative and Georgia Tech's Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teacher (GIFT) program, several Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) teachers and high schools students spent their summer
immersed in hands-on STEM internships.
GSCS teachers interned at local businesses to experience first-hand, the connections between classroom activities and actual STEM applications. Spalding High teacher Lewis Pulliam interned at Sumika Polymers while Thomas Stinson, Carver Road Middle teacher, and Robyn Walker, Jackson Road Elementary teacher, interned at Caterpillar, Inc. These teachers will take their internship experiences and convert them into classroom lesson plans to share with their students.
Seven Griffin High students participated in the newly launched GSCS High School STEM Internship Program. Tyrique Hannah and Zakariayh Cox interned at
UGA-Griffin campus; Cameron Davis, Jeramie Paz and Muhammad Butt interned at the Candler Field Museum
(a 1920s/1930s replica of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) and D'Asia Dennis and Fatima Humayun interned at Spading Regional Hospital. These students had the opportunity to learn about the skills and knowledge needed in STEM-related careers. During this four-week program, students gained hands-on experiences in robotics, wheat research, aviation, radiology and physical therapy.
Read more...
Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR-QTHoSsZ8 to view a video featuring the internships at Sumika Polymers and the Candler Field Museum.
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PIE GRANTS OPEN SEPT. 1, 2015
 The Griffin-Spalding Partners in Education is offering classroom/field trip grants to GSCS teachers. If your classroom, department, grade level or teaching team wants to initiate a program or project requiring up to $1,000, visit the PIE website and complete your application at: http://www.gspie.org.
PIE grants are open September 1 - October 1, 2015.
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 DCH BOARD APPROVES 2016 STATE HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN OPTIONS
The Board of Community Health today voted to approve the 2016 member contribution rates and plan designs for the Georgia Department of Community Health's State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), providing continuity and stability in plan options for members next year. The Board's vote establishes the general framework of the plan options for next year, including member premiums.
For 2016, the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) will continue to provide an array of vendors and plan options for our members, with new enhancements, such as increased access to telemedicine and wellness incentive credits rollover. The Board's vote establishes member contribution rates and solidifies that the following options will be available to SHBP members for the 2016 Plan Year:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) - statewide Gold, Silver, Bronze Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) (exclusively), statewide Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
- UnitedHealthcare (UHC) - statewide High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) (exclusively), statewide HMO, Medicare Advantage (MA) Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) standard and premium
- Kaiser Permanente (KP) - fully-insured HMO for SHBP members who live or work in the 27-county metro Atlanta service area
Read more...
Open Enrollment will be held Oct. 19 - Nov. 6, 2015,
for the Jan. 1, 2016, start date of the new plan year.
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 SICK LEAVE BANK OPEN ENROLLMENT
Attention all GSCS Employees:
Open Enrollment period for the Sick Leave Bank is Aug. 21 - Sept. 4, 2015
What is the purpose of the Sick Leave Bank? To provide its members with sick leave, for extended absences after their own sick leave has been exhausted
What are the membership qualifications? Any eligible employee who has completed one (1) year of employment with GSCS and has at least one day of accumulated leave may become a member of the Sick Leave Bank by donating one day of accumulated sick leave.
How to Join? (Current members do not need to reapply) Complete and return the "SLB Enrollment" document by September 4, 2015. Click HERE for the enrollment form. How to cancel membership? Complete and return the "SLB Cancellation" by September 4, 2015. Click HERE for the cancellation form.
Eligibility for withdrawals?
Members of the Sick Leave Bank shall be eligible to apply for withdrawal of sick leave from the Bank provided that:
- The member has been absent due to personal illness, injury, surgery or other temporary disability that is catastrophic in nature (defined as any extremely serious medical condition that has the potential to be life threatening, or critically debilitating). The Bank shall not be used for maternity leave unless the mother experiences life- threatening complications with pregnancy or delivery.
- The employee has been a member of the Sick Leave Bank for thirty (30) calendar days and the sick leave days in the application occur after this waiting period;
- The member has been absent due to illness at least fifteen (15) consecutive working days prior to the day the use of the Sick Leave Bank begins.
- In the event of extenuating circumstances the "consecutive day" requirement may be waived.
- The member has exhausted his/her own accumulated leave and vacation.
- The member is not receiving Workers' Compensation or other remuneration for the absences provided in part or in full by the Griffin-Spalding County Board of Education.
For more details click HERE for the Sick Leave Bank Policy. |
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U.S. CONSTITUTIONS ARRIVING SOON FOR FOURTH GRADE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
 State School Superintendent Richard Wood's goal of supplying each fourth grade student with a copy of the U. S. Constitution has been accomplished. The funds have been contributed, at no expense to Georgia taxpayers, to provide each Georgia fourth grade student and teacher with one constitution.
Around the first of September, elementary schools will receive a shipment of pocket constitutions, titled "The Words that Built America."
Schools are asked to give these out on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, or any day during Constitution Week,
Sept. 14 -18.
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"GOLF WITHOUT BUNKERS AND HAZARDS WOULD BE LAME.
SO WOULD LIFE."
~ B. C. Forbes
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AWESOME TIPS TO HAVE IN YOUR BACK POCKET
- Use a normal, natural voice
- Speak only when students are quiet and ready
- Use hand signals and other non-verbal communication
- Address behavior issues quickly and wisely
- Always have a well-designed, engaging lesson
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 NEW LAW GIVES 10,000 GEORGIANS DIPLOMAS
Since Governor Deal signed House Bill 91 into law on March 30, 2015, more than 10,000 people have been given their high school diplomas.
Former Spalding High student Emerson Demorris Furlow was the first GSCS student to be approved under HB91 to receive his high school diploma.
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Emerson Demorris Furlow and his son with
School Superintendent Jim Smith.
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SEPTEMBER IS ABSENCE AWARENESS MONTH
When we reduce chronic absence we improve graduation rates, increase academic achievement and give young people the best chance at success in their adult life. Join the Attendance Awareness Campaign and make a difference! http://bit.ly/1oqfID7
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Click HERE for our non-discrimination statement.
Communicator is edited using the AP Stylebook 2010 edition.
Laura Beaber, Editor
GSCS Communications and Partnerships Department
PO Drawer N
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